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Seemingly adding confirmation to the rumors of Google Fiber in Austin TX, industry evangelist Gig.U briefly posted a press release congratulating the Texas city on joining the project. The retracted press release included a statement by the director of the Gig.U project commending the effort, as well as some benefits expected from wide-scale deployment of the ultra-fast connection technology.

Discovered by Engadget, the press release claimed that "today, Google announced it will add Austin, Texas to the Google Fiber project, joining Kansas City ... as American communities that have the power to bring next generation networks home." Google's official event is Tuesday, April 9.

The release attached a statement by Executive Director Blair Levin saying that "Gig.U congratulates Google and the City of Austin for their initiative to bring a world-leading network to one of the world's great research university communities. This effort will pay enormous dividends for the country, as it will help develop the human capital America needs to lead a global economy that increasingly creates value with big data and big bandwidth."

It went on to say that the Austin project, "as well as the recent response to the North Carolina Next Generation Network project demonstrates that university communities are increasingly recognized as attractive partners for next generation network deployments because of the innovative spirit and demand profiles of their residents."

Google Fiber offers gigabit Internet service for $70 per month, or a slower 5Mbps download/1Mbps upload connection with a pre-paid $300 installation fee per year in its existing deployment area. Few details are known about the Austin project, but the city is said to have been one of the front-runners for the initial deployment likely aided by an existing Google presence.